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Overview Active 13 January 2026
14. Agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU)
VMD0054 provides a standardized approach for estimating leakage, which occurs in the form of greenhouse gas emissions outside of a project boundary when project activities displace agricultural or fuelwood production.
The module can be used with VCS methodology VM0032 Methodology for the Adoption of Sustainable Grasslands through Adjustment of Fire and Grazing, VM0042 Improved Agricultural Land Management, and VM0047 Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation, as indicated in each methodology.
Please note:
- VMD0054 v1.0 will be inactivated on February 1, 2027. See “Implications for VCS Projects” below for more details.
VMD0054 v1.0 will be inactivated on February 1, 2027. Projects that meet the submission deadlines below may continue to apply VMD0054, v1.0 for the remainder of their project crediting period or baseline reassessment period, whichever is shorter.
| Type of Project Request | Submission Deadline |
|---|---|
| Registration | January 31, 2027 |
Verification approval where the verification includes one of the following:
| January 31, 2027 |
| Crediting period renewal | January 31, 2027 |
| Requantification | January 31, 2027 |
Market Labels
VMD0054, v1.0 has been approved by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) as meeting the requirements of the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) Assessment Framework. Verra plans to submit VMD0054, v1.1 to the ICVCM for consideration in meeting of the included updates. A guidance document outlining Verra’s process for CCP labeling, the ICVCM CCP Label Guidance (PDF), is available on the VCS Rules and Requirements page.
All projects using VMD0054 that intend to request CCP labels at issuance must have a completed CCP Eligibility Verification Report Checklist Template (.docx) attached as an appendix to the project’s Verification Report. Where VCUs have been issued from projects using multiple methodologies, only VCUs from projects solely using CCP-approved methodologies are eligible for CCP labels.
Development History
VMD0054 Estimating Leakage from the Displacement of Agricultural Activities, v1.1
Status: Active since January 13, 2026
Summary of Changes:
VMD0054, v1.1 features the following updates:
- It introduces an accounting framework that takes into account the production of new commodities introduced to the project area when calculating the net emissions from land use changes.
- It includes revised ecosystem conversion assumptions so that projects in areas with very little forest cover can use the most common native ecosystem as the reference for quantifying carbon stock change due to displaced production.
Developer(s): Verra
Dates of Public Consultation: May 23, 2024, to June 24, 2024
Draft Shared During Public Consultation: VM0047 v1.1 – Draft Methodology_Greenlined (PDF), VMD0054 v1.1 – Draft Module_Greenlined (PDF)
Summary of Public Consultation: VM0047, v1.1 – Summary of Public Consultation (PDF) (inclusive of VMD0054 comments).
VVB Assessment Report(s): N/A
Announcement(s): Consultation Announcement: Revisions to ARR Methodology, Verra Publishes Minor Revision to Leakage Module (VMD0054)
VMD0054 Module for Estimating Leakage from ARR Activities, v1.0 (PDF)
Status: Active from September 28, 2023 to December 31, 2026
Request Deadlines:
- VMD0054 v1.0 will be inactivated on January 1, 2027. Projects seeking registration or crediting period renewal using VMD0054 v1.0 must submit a registration request or crediting period renewal request before January 1, 2027.
- Projects may continue to use their applied module version for the remainder of the project crediting period and update to the most recent version of VMD0054 at their next crediting period renewal.
Developer(s): Verra, TerraCarbon (external), Silvestrum Climate Associates (external)
Dates of Public Consultation: December 17, 2021 to January 28, 2022
Summary of Public Consultation: Summary of Public Consultation for VMD0054, v1.0 (PDF)
VVB Assessment Report(s): VVB Assessment Report for VMD0054, v1.0 (PDF)